"They have never existed in the flesh. They have lived, however, in the higher and more vital sense that they have been part of the imagination. They are true in that they express the truth. more "Everywhere in our lives are moments of intensity, moments of heightened emotion that are always our own personal experiences, even when they are prompted by persons, events, and experiences outside of ourselves more Since 1990, Mid-List Press has sponsored the First Series Award for the Novel for writers who have yet to publish a novel and the Mid-List Press First Series Award for Poetry for poets who have yet to publish a book of poetry. In 1995, the First Series was expanded to include awards for book-length collections of short fiction (short stories, novellas) and creative nonfiction. more "In a way, all stories are about storytelling. Characters make up stories; they lie, or conceal the truth, and they latch onto things—knowing something is missing. —Leslee Becker on her collection of short stories, The Sincere Cafe more “'Literary nonfiction,' 'creative nonfiction,' and 'lyric essay' are some of the makeshift semantic hybrids in current use and designed to catch the sort of prose work which is very like an essay but which exploits the linguistic playfulness, associative logic, and imaginative license of poetry. more